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Ashton Kutcher Wins First 'Foot in Mouth' Award for Joe Paterno Tweet

Ashton Kutcher has been awarded the first-ever "Foot in Mouth Award" by CelebTweets.com for his recent tweet regarding Joe Paterno and the Penn State child abuse scandal.

CelebTweets.com – in partnership with CelebGossip.com — has kicked off an award series that will showcase celebrities who demonstrate the exceptional ability to post something on Twitter that they immediately regret. The awards aim to encourage celebrities to think before they tweet.

Last month, the Two and a Half Men star sent a tweet that defended Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who was fired after being implicated in a scandal related to assistant coach Jerry Sandusky’s alleged history of sexually molesting children.

"How do you fire Jo Pa? #insult #noclass as a hawkeye fan I find it in poor taste," Kutcher tweeted.

He then followed up his message with additional messages: "Heard Joe was fired, fully recant previous tweet!" and "Didn’t have full story. #admitwhenYoumakemistakes."

Although those tweets have since been deleted, he has since left up another apology expressing his remorse for all involved with the Penn State case.

"We chose Mr. Kutcher for our first award for two reasons – first, he is often credited as being the first celebrity to fully embrace Twitter and second, he’s often said a lot of foolish things in his tweets," says David Palma, Celeb Gossip Network's spokesperson. "All of that weird stuff with Demi over the last few months doesn’t hurt either."

Kutcher had been vocal about his relationship with now-estranged wife Demi Moore.

Following Kutcher’s tweet about Paterno, the actor announced he was taking a leave of absence from Twitter: "As of immediately I will stop tweeting until I find a way to properly manage this feed," Kutcher wrote. "I feel awful about this error. Won’t happen again."

CelebTweets.com noted that it’s not unusual for celebrities to retract and apologize for tweets.

"It is not uncommon for an error to come to their attention following an avalanche of criticism or a panicked call from an agent or manager," CelebTweets.com said in a statement. "The first step is to often delete the tweet in hopes of mitigating the damage."

The site said it has introduced its "Foot in the Mouth" award to remind celebrities to use caution when tweeting.

"While we will be the first to admit that celebrities are just like us — humans who are prone to mistakes — we don’t feel that they should be able to hide from them. In fact we believe that because of the power they wield with their voice, they should in fact think before they Tweet," CelebTweets.com said.

Kutcher, whose acting career has taken a backseat to Nikon peddling and his interactive agency, Katalyst Media, is one of the early Twitter celebrities. Two years ago, Kutcher was in a race with CNN to be the first person to reach one million followers, which he did on April 16, 2009. This moment was an indication that Twitter had gone mainstream, and Kutcher went on Oprah that week to help Winfrey post her first tweet.

But Kutcher had humble beginnings -- his first tweet merely expressed that he was sharing his first tweet.

Obama joined Twitter two months after he announced his candidacy for the 2008 presidential election. Appropriately, his first tweet was optimistic and self-promotional, including a plug for his website.

Film critic Roger Ebert is one of the more insightful, poignant tweeters on the social platform, and he's been that way since he joined the network. His first tweet on October 4, 2009, was a touching comment on aging.

The beauty of Twitter is that it enables us to communicate with celebrities, politicians and even royalty. Queen Rania joined Twitter on May 7, 2009. Since then, she has explored Twitter as a diplomatic tool, even posting a Twitvid to promote tourism in Jordan.

Lady Gaga loves her "little monsters," but her first tweet came before she knew of "The Fame" that would come her way. Gaga tweeted about rehearsing for a music video and performing at a party -- appropriate for the "What's happening?" prompt.

Twitter, of course, isn't just a tool for English speakers. Last year, a study found that just 50% of tweets are in English. Thus, it's no surprise that just as President Obama tweets, so too does Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. His first tweet, on April 28, 2010, reads: "Hey how's it going? I appeared like I said I would: at midnight. I'm off to Brazil. And very happy to work for Venezuela. We will be victorious!!"

Zappos' CEO Tony Hsieh has himself become a brand, and though he peddles shoes, Zappos has become synonymous with impeccable customer service and "delivering happiness." Zappos first tweeted on March 8, 2008, during SXSW, although Hsieh's first tweet indicates confusion about how to follow.

Kesha of "Tik Tok" fame took her 'tude to Twitter on March 23, where her handle is @keshasuxx. Keeping her habits of odd characters and intentional misspellings of words, her first tweet makes little sense.

Though the Dalai Lama is known for peace, serenity and holiness, that didn't stop him from joining Twitter. His first tweet, on February 22, 2010, served as a modern day press release -- he announced an appearance and provided a link.

The domestic goddess Martha Stewart could barely contain her excitement about "using Twitter for the first time!" on February 20, 2009. It's reminiscent of the tone she used in Twitter's fifth birthday video.

Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson is known for being an outdoorsy thrillseeker, but his first tweet shows a softer side. On October 22, 2008, Branson tweeted about his children, Holly and Sam, and how they're "coping" as they sought to break the trans-Atlantic sailing record.

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